Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli on Thursday warned in an interview  with Kan News that a scenario in which Turkey launches military action against Israel is “entirely possible.”

Chikli’s warning follows statements by US President Donald Trump that he is considering allowing Turkey to purchase F-35 aircraft after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara.

“From our perspective, Trump’s close friendship with Erdoğan is very problematic, as is NATO’s relationship with him,” Chikli said.

“We’ve learned that it’s very important to pay attention to what world leaders—and Israel’s enemies—are saying,” he added. “When Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that Israel is a burden on humanity and that humanity can no longer tolerate it, that is an extremely serious statement.”

Chikli stressed that Turkey’s harsh rhetoric toward Israel is not new, but has reached unprecedented levels. “I’ve been closely following the statements made over the past several months, and what we’re seeing is unlike anything before. I’ve never heard Turkish officials say, ‘We intend to liberate Jerusalem,’ or ‘We’ll do in Israel what we did in Syria’—until these past few months.”

However, Chikli added that Israel views Trump’s remarks as a diplomatic achievement. “There was no declaration that he would provide Turkey with F-35 fighter jets, and that is to a large extent a significant achievement of the Prime Minister, who did not hide his position, and also of Greece and Cyprus, which applied very strong pressure,” he said.

While the NATO summit was taking place in Ankara, Netanyahu spoke against Turkey in interviews with US media outlets, telling CNN that Ankara is “a regime that’s infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the US.”

“He’s not exactly a model ally of the United States,” Netanyahu asserted. “He threatens to destroy my country, the one and only Jewish state.”

“This is not a force for peace and stability. When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake,” Netanyahu added.

Chikli has warned in the past about the danger Turkey poses, calling it “the most serious danger to the State of Israel today.”

Journalist Amit Segal has also warned about the danger posed by Turkey, calling it “Iran 2.0: The Greatest Threat Of All That Israel Still Hasn’t Recognized.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)